Week 4 high HS football: York loses heartbreaker at Brunswick; Dover, Spaulding win first

An eight-game Friday Seacoast slate kicked off Week 4 of the high school football season in New Hampshire and Maine.

In Division I, Exeter beat Winnacunnet, 38-12 as the Blue Hawks improved to 4-0 on the season, Dover beat Timberlane, 35-28 for its first win of the season, Manchester Memorial beat Portsmouth/Oyster River, 33-17, and Spaulding beat out-of-state opponent Edward Little, which competes in Maine's Class A, 41-12.

More: Rivalry Renewed: Batstone scores three second-half TDs as Exeter beats Winnacunnet

More: Lowery was all-state running back at Exeter, now he's coaching at rival Winnacunnet

In Division II, St. Thomas Aquinas lost to Bow, 21-0, and, in Division III, Somersworth lost to Campbell, 38-20.

In Maine, Class B Marshwood lost to Class A Noble, 35-7, and Traip Academy lost to Old Orchard Beach, 72-14, in an 8-Man Small South game.

On Saturday, York lost to Brunswick, 24-20 in a Class C South contest.

York loses heartbreaker with 11 seconds left

BRUNSWICK, Maine - The York High School football team lost a heartbreaker for the second consecutive week as Brunswick scored the game-winning touchdown with 11 seconds remaining and rallied for a 24-20 Class C South win.

Last week, York was stopped at the 1-yard line in a 40-35 loss to Oceanside. It was the third straight loss for York, which is now 1-3 on the season.

"The last three weeks have been tough, they all have been winnable games," York head coach Matt Nelson said. "We're right on the cusp. I told the kids they have to keep their heads up. We have to believe, we can't stop believing in each other. We have a good group of kids who will come back to work on Monday."

Brunswick quarterback Cam Beal scrambled to his right and connected with Liam Scholl in the back of the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown with 11 seconds left, giving Brunswick its first lead since the first quarter.

"It was an unbelievable catch, the kid made a play," Nelson said. "The whole game was a battle. Both teams were exhausted, it came down to one play and Brunswick made it.

Brunswick opened the scoring on its first drive and took an 8-0 lead. The Wildcats scored the next 20 points as Sam Jancovic had a 20-yard touchdown and Peter Martin had touchdown passes to Lucas Ketchum (20 yards) and Jack Estes (25).

York will host Cape Elizabeth on Saturday at 2 p.m.

-Jay Pinsonnault

ClipperCats still searching for first win of the season

PORTSMOUTH - Leading 17-6 late in the second quarter, it was all Portsmouth/Oyster River for the first 22 minutes of Friday's Division I game against Manchester Memorial.

However, a 40-yard touchdown pass from Memorial quarterback Brady Harrison pulled the Crusaders to within 17-13 at halftime, and it would be downhill from there for Portsmouth/Oyster River in a 33-17 loss at Tom Daubney Field.

Portsmouth/Oyster River was outscored 20-0 in the second half, and is now 0-4 on the season.

"We pretty much did it to ourselves," Portsmouth/Oyster River head coach Brian Pafford said. "We gave them a couple short fields, some dumb penalties and just some things that didn't go right. I think we get in our minds. We came out great."

Memorial's Jathyen Ayala returned the second-half kickoff 90 yards to give Memorial its first lead of the game, 20-17.

Portsmouth went three-and-out on its first two drives in the second half. Portsmouth's punt, on its second drive, was returned 65 yards by Memorial's Jacob Schuff for a touchdown.

Memorial led 26-17 after the third quarter, and Portsmouth's Andy Brown deep pass to start the fourth quarter was intercepted by Schuff at the Memorial 4. Memorial put together a six-plus minute drive which was capped off by a Gabe Felch 11-yard touchdown run for the game's final score.

Porter Lalime's 6-yard touchdown gave Portsmouth a 7-0 lead with 5:17 left in the first quarter.

On Portsmouth's next drive a high snap was recovered by the Crusaders at the Memorial 26. Four plays later, Colin Beaulieu scored on a 7-yard run. The PAT failed and Portsmouth led 7-6 with 10:39 left in the half.

Daniel Soler-Sala's 23-yard field goal pushed Portsmouth's lead 10-6. Later Portsmouth capitalized on a Memorial blunder as Cote Bellaud recovered a fumble and returned it 10 yards for a touchdown, giving the ClipperCats a 17-6 lead with 7:02 left in the half.

"We make a couple of mistakes, and all of a sudden, (the lead) is less than a touchdown, when it shouldn't have even been close to that," Pafford said.

Portsmouth-Oyster River visits Dover on Friday at 7 p.m.

-Brandon Brown

Cortina's 3 TDs gets Spaulding in win column

ROCHESTER - Behind Seth Cortina's three touchdowns, the Red Raiders defended its home turf against an out-of-state opponent from Maine in Edward Little, 41-12. Spaulding is now 1-3 on the season.

Along with Cortina's three scores, junior Jayden Deal scored a rushing touchdown; two of Cortina's rushing scores were over 60 yards.

"Happy to get the first win," Spaulding head coach Dan Hodsdon said. "The past couple of years, this game has kind of been the springboard for us. That's how it's going to have to be this year, even though the task is really tough next week with Exeter."

Hodsdon said most of the damage was done in the first half, and Spauding was able to cruise in the second half

Spaulding visits Exeter (4-0) next Saturday at 1 p.m.

-Brandon Brown

Gagne throws for four TDs, leads Dover to first win of season

PLAISTOW – Friday night’s matchup between Dover and Timberlane looked nothing like a pairing of 0-3 teams. The Green Wave and the Owls went blow for blow before Dover held on for a 35-28 Division I win.

After feeling like one got away from them against Manchester Memorial two weeks ago, the win was a spirit-lifter for Dover (1-3). Timberlane (0-4) made them work for it, coming back from an early 14-0 deficit, but big plays for Dover made the difference.

“This feels great,” Dover's Cam Grund said. “We needed this one. We knew coming into this that our season was on the line.”

It was Grund’s 52-yard touchdown, his second long touchdown of the game, that ended up being the game-winner. Dover led 28-21 with just over 4:30 left in the game, and faced a critical third-and-16. Grund got behind the defense and Cooper Gagne found him for the 52-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 35-21.

“This was huge,” said Dover coach Eric Cumba. “We lost our first three games, two against two of the top-five teams in the state, and one at the buzzer to Memorial. For these kids to come out, feel some success, and get a win on the road is big. This can set our trajectory as we’re going forward.”

Cumba said his team showed resiliency not just in rebounding from the 0-3 start, but in absorbing, and responding to, Timberlane’s counterpunch after the Green Wave jumped ahead 14-0.

“They’re listening to what we say as coaches,’ Cumba said. “We told them, ‘It’s not going to be easy. Nothing in life that’s worth having comes easy.’ I think they realized that tonight. They stayed together and gritted it out."

After stopping Timberlane’s final possession on a Grant Davis pass break up, Dover took over at midfield looking to run out the clock. Three straight runs had them facing a fourth-and-inches, and Gagne powered ahead for the first down to clinch the game.

Dover led 21-14 at halftime, but it was 21-21 when Gagne connected with Kayden Joy for the go-ahead score on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Gagne was sharp all night, hitting Jackson Brock for a 44-yard touchdown on the opening drive, then connecting with Grund for another 44-yard score to regain the lead after Timberlane tied the game at 14.

Gagne finished the night going 16-for-23 for 269 yards and four touchdowns, while Joseph Leonardi racked up 132 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Grund finished with four catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns, while Brock had five catches for 85 yards and a touchdown.

Timberlane quarterback Jeremy Mlocek ran for 55 yards and three touchdowns and completed 12 of 22 passes for 97 yards, while Michael Santosuosso reeled in six catches for 58 yards, and Giovanni Recesso ran for 65 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.

-Terrill Covey

Slow start sends Marshwood to third loss

SOUTH BERWICK, Maine – The game began on an ominous note for the Marshwood High School football team.

The Class B South Hawks turned the ball over on their first possession Friday night and Noble quickly capitalized on the miscue to set the tone.

The Class A South Knights scored on their fifth play from scrimmage following the takeaway and were well on their way to a 35-7 win over Marshwood that dropped the Hawks record to 1-3 following their second straight loss.

“Not a great way to start the game, that’s for sure,” said Marshwood coach Alex Rotsko. “We’re throwing the ball more than we usually do and things like that so obviously it’s going to affect the game and how things go.”

Trailing 21-0 late in the second quarter, Marshwood scored its only touchdown on a 24-yard pass down the middle from Tyler Hussey to Ryan Essex. Brady Isabelle kicked the extra point to make it 21-7 at halftime.

The Hawks made a goal-line stand in the third quarter when Deshawn Toussaint recovered a fumble on the Marshwood 1-yard line, but the Hawks failed to take advantage when they had the ball. Toussaint also had a sack on the Knights’ next possession.

“We didn’t give up,” Rotsko said. “We were still playing hard. We’re hoping to get a few guys back who’ve been out, and the younger guys are learning what to do. Hopefully, we’ll get better.”

Noble (4-0) added a touchdown with 3.9 seconds left in the third quarter that made it 28-7 and another on a long pick-six midway through the fourth to account for the final score.

Noble senior quarterback Jamiel Rose figured in three of the Knights’ five touchdowns with a pair of TD passes of 48 yards to Bryson McCormack and 46 yards to Aidan Keefe, both coming in the second quarter.

“The quarterback’s a real good player,” Rotsko said. “You want to keep him off the field but that didn’t happen.”

Rose also scored on a 4-yard run. Noble’s Tommy Gagnon scored the game’s first TD on a 12-yard scamper and the last with an 80-yard interception return.

It doesn’t get any easier for Marshwood, which hosts Class A Sanford next Friday night.

“We had probably five, six, seven guys I thought that just played their butts off tonight,” Rotsko said.

-Al Pike

More: Exeter, Winnacunnet football rivalry goes back to 1924

More: Lowery was all-state running back at Exeter, now he's coaching at rival Winnacunnet

Bow hands St. Thomas Aquinas its second straight loss

BOW - St. Thomas Aquinas couldn't find its rhythm, and dropped its second straight game, a 21-0 loss at Bow.

St. Thomas is now 1-3 on the season, while Bow is 3-1.

"We were pretty well overmatched I would say," STA head coach Ed McDonough said.

The Saints trailed 14-0 at halftime, and the Falcons added one more insurance score midway through the fourth.

"The kids fought hard, there's no quit in them," McDonough said. "We moved the ball a little bit in the fourth quarter, but Bow's a good football team."

Bow struck twice in the second quarter - one was a long touchdown run, and the other on fourth-and-goal as time expired in the first half.

St. Thomas Aquinas visits Kennett on Friday.

-Brandon Brown

Somersworth jumps out to 14-0 lead, loses at Campbell

LITCHFIELD - Somersworth jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first half, but in a span of about a minute, Campbell scored two touchdowns and went into halftime tied at 14-14.

Campbell scored an offensive touchdown, and then stripped the ball on the ensuing kickoff and returned that for a game-tying score.

Campbell outscored Somersworth, 21-0 in the second half and walked off with a 38-20 Division III win. Somersworth is now 2-2 on the season.

"Fought hard, but came up short in the end," Somersworth head coach Jeremy Lambert said. "I'm very proud of the effort and toughness we displayed tonight. We played great for the majority of the game, however we did make a few mistakes that gave Campbell opportunities. And when you give opportunities to really good football teams, they are going to capitalize on them."

Somersworth received scores from Amani Muya, who ran for more than 100 yards, Max Dubois and Jackson Dumont. Dubois also scored on a 2-point conversion.

"There was a lot of great things for us to build on from this game and that's what we're focused on moving forward," Lambert said.

Somersworth is off next week, and will visit Laconia on Oct. 11.

-Brandon Brown

Old Orchard Beach proves too strong for Traip Academy

OLD ORCHARD BEACH, Maine - Traip Academy knew Friday's game at Old Orchard Beach would be a tough task, and the Rangers fell 72-14 and are now 1-3 on the season.

"They're stacked," Traip head coach Eric Lane said. "We couldn't stop Riley Provencher or Brady Plante, their quarterback. They were on all game, and we struggled at slowing them down at all."

Traip scored on Max Jordan's 38-yard run in the second quarter, and Phin Fifield's 60-yard kick return in the third quarter.

"We had some decent plays, but not enough to do any damage," Lane said.

Traip Academy will play at Spruce Mountain Friday at 7 p.m

-Brandon Brown

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Week 4 high HS football: York loses heartbreaker at Brunswick; Dover, Spaulding win first